Recommended Posts

We've finally caved in to years of requests for vampiric scents. As soft as grave dust and as dry as a breath drawn within a long forgotten crypt, this is Nosferatu: desiccated herbs and gritty earth brought to life with a swell of robust and sanguineous red wines.

this is zombi's younger, sweeter and less worldly sibling.....most definitely has components of moist and earthy soil...loamy and moldybut in the most interesting and beautiful way....a sweeter scent comesthrough after awhile and this turns into one of beth's most admirableand stunning creations to date...i was fortunate to obtain this in a swapand also have a 10 ml on order....yes, that is just how amazing this blendworks for me......love it!!!
Edited January 6, 2006 by Shollin

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

After all the people who called it "disturbing", I was prepared for something much less pleasant. But this is a gorgeous scent!

I get roses (damp, or possibly wilting); sweet wine; and amazing, rich, loamy dirt. I don't recognise any of the particular herbs in here, except the possible rosy smell. With "sanguineous" I expected something more meaty, but I didn't get that at all - none of that animal, metallic smell. And the dirt note is so comforting, just as in Zombi.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I'm going through a vampire phase right now, so getting this as a free sample with an order couldn't have been more exciting!

"Crypt" is definitely an accurate description of the scent in the bottle--the combination of wine and wet soil produces a fungusy, almost bloody scent. Not something I thought I'd ever want to smell like, but I decided to see how it reacted with my body chemistry.

On my skin, the dirt smell mellows and the wine comes out sweetly yet boldly. It's the rich scent that I expected from Bordello. Deep, heady, and sexy. I want to say that I'm in love, but yes..lust seems more appropriate. Definitely my favorite BPAL scent so far, and it's going to be a hard one to top. I can't stop smelling myself, and I will definitely be raving about this to friends.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

One day I hope I will put it on and I will smell the dirt, the grave loam, the herbs with the wine. But all I've ever gotten is the red wine. Like I spilled some on myself. It wafts all day and isn't unpleasant, but it isn't something I want to smell like, most days. However, it does evoke a sense of eerie discomfort and almost despair, if I let it. So I might be picking up something besides the wine and just not being able to catch it consciously. I bought Shadow of the Vampire so I could watch it again and certainly I can imagine Dafoe's character smelling like this, but with more soil. And a tinge of blood.

Going to try layering this with Zombi. Maybe even with Brimstone. Something to tone the wine note down with.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

wow! This is one of those scents that remains amazingly complex on me, even after the drydown. Beth is amazing! I can smell each element alone: the herbs, the earth, the wine, and yet it combines to create something lovely. While gender neutral, I think I would love this better on a significant other than on me (mostly because I'm trying to keep my list of "have to haves" to a minimum). If I had a guy and he wore this, I would indeed, erm, drain the life out of him.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I'm not sure I have the chutzpah to try this one on again, because the first and only time I did I was struck by the fact that it really did smell like a dead body!

You see, I've had the misfortune in my life to have had to deal with more than one animal corpse that had, um, been there a while? Thusly, I'm more familiar with the "scent of death" than I care to be.

I don't know how Beth did it, but that scent is the predominate one in this blend for me. It obviously lacks the putrid quality that makes tummies turn, but it's the same heavy, sweet, "dead" odor of what's left behind when a being passes on. It's a technical marvel, but conjures too many bad memories for me.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Oddly enough, this smells like fresh melons to me in the imp. I mean, melons that are so overripe they're rotten, but they're still on the vine. so there's a dirt smell in the background. It really does smell of something dead, but without the putrescence. Hubby and I both made the icky face.

I tried it on tonight, though, and it really smells good on me. It starts out sweet and fruity, not winey, with that earthy undernote I love in Zombi. It dries down to something sweet and perfumy, but not cloying. Not exactly the scent I was expecting, but quite lovely.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

This is truly original and lives up to it's name. It's also one of BPAL's more "natural" scents, meaning that it might be detectably artificial but doesn't smell like anything common in perfumes. It starts out as a harsh, bitter, cold, moist citrusy/herbal scent, smelling like stone, earth and grass. It dries less bitter but still very dark: citrus, fresh leaves, grass and damp earth. I marvel at how it can be so fresh without being light and schampoo generic, on the contrary it's very dark, dark and damp and moist like black earth at nighttime. I don't get any wine, none of Nosferatu's refined count sides, only the demonic cave dweller and vampire sleeping in his grave, but that's fine with me.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

This might just smell like an actual vampire. The wine notes play in the front and remind me strongly of blood with their almost coppery sweetness, the earth is old and dry, not the vibrant note of freshly upturned earth, making it seem ancient and slightly decayed, and the herbs give it something that is not from this world.

That said, the combination of scents, while very interesting and not like anything I've smelled before, is not exactly pleasant to my nose; I'm gonna have to let it go to someone who still has room in his or her coffin

Edited February 14, 2006 by Diva Urd

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

In the Imp: .... bizarre! It's got the same rich, black loam-dirt smell I remember from Jazz Funeral, and a very similar sweetness, but it must be berry wine rather than sugary white florals. It's a bit like the lovechild of Penny Dreadful and Jazz Funeral, crossbred with Wanda. Sticky and soil-esque, but pleasant in an odd sort of way. (Whoa! Weird. I can taste the dirt, if I inhale with my mouth open.)

Wet: Surprisingly damp, but still light, dirt, sprinkled with moss, and red berry wine, and a touch of something soapy (wtf?) Much like Penny Dreadful, this settles down into a second skin scent very quickly, but it's quite nice. More "rounded" than PD, less antique and femme smelling, but not as vibrant and rich with greenery as Jazz Funeral.... the booze note is very different as well. It's sort of a deep purpley blend, unusual but still appealing.

Dry: It's faded still farther into a sweet wine smell with just a touch of green and black loam. This is lovely.

Who'da thunk it? It seems I like Beth's soil blends after all. Zombi scared the Hell out of me, Penny Dreadful was a little creepy, but the dirt notes in Jazz Funeral and Nosferatu are comforting. Go figure.

As nice as this is, it's just not standing out from Penny Dreadful and Jazz Funeral for me. Of the three, I think Jazz Funeral is my favourite-- in fact, I favour it so highly I'm not sure I need the other two. I'll hang on to Master Nosferatu for now, but I don't think his final resting place will be with me.

(Oh jeebus, I just saw the comment someone made farther up thread, that this really does smell like a dead body. Thanks a lot. )

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

In the bottle and wet on my skin: Warm, sweet herbs. This is the smell of dirt after it rains, but more beautiful and... sad.

Dry on skin: I love how this has dried down into a bouquet of herbs and what seems like dried flowers, which is probably the wine. To me, if this fragrance had a color, it would be a swirl of dark, blood red and pale purple.

All in all, I absolutely adore Nosferatu but I wouldn't wear it every day or in very traditional settings, like say, church or dinner at grandma's. This is a sad, wistful scent that would be perfect for a cold, gloomy day, spent indoors and reading a great book.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I have been wearing this scent for about a year now, but am just now writing a review.

This is one of my top ten scents.

In bottle: I can smell the dry earth and the dry bite of red wine.

On skin: I still get the dry earth, especially while it is wet. I can now smell the herbs, that kind of give it a sweet, but not flowery, scent. The red wine bite and dry earth mix and become one, but is sweetened by the herbs. This reminds me a lot of spring. It makes me want to go work in my herb garden. It is a very unique scent. It's so unique that I can't wear it constantly. I have to wear it for a few days, then take a little break from it. If I wear it too often I get tired of it. I especially love wearing it when spring first shows up and the plants all start growing again and the trees start budding out.

Throw: It has a decent throw. Its not too strong, but I still catch whiffs of it through out the day. It last a long time too. Its last well through a work day, and into the night.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

On Skin: The dirt note jumps forward. It is so neat! It’s not exactly like Zombi, it’s more ozoney and lacks the obvious florals. This smells like dirt and laundry detergent. It’s very fresh and actually a bit seductive. The wines are not deep, more light and bright… not mulled or heavy. I love this!!! It is a scent people will notice and ask about, completely original! It has a spring feel, like I’ve been working in the garden. It has average throw but doesn’t last long sadly. I would love to have it last longer because this is a scent I will be wearing for sure.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

NOT what I was expecting at all, I don't know why but I somehow imagined this was going to be a richer, deeper and earthier scent. But this is surprisingly light and fresh. The first note that strikes me is an herbally green one, and it's something that is also in The Apothecary, because it smells strikingly similar to it in the wet stage. That does soon dissapate though into a very slightly sweet red scent which I'm assuming is the wine note. In the long run, that's really what this scent is - that pale wine smell with soft green herbs. It's very light though, and has a soft sweetness to it.

Final note:

I really like this for being really different and clean smelling in an unusual way - it's VERY light though, and I do have to say that it fades awfully quickly, it has next to no staying power - it's practically gone within 20 minutes.

Link to post

Share on other sites

wearing, a citrusy note comes out on my skin turning it sweet and citrusy and warm, somehow. i detect the wine, also, which i adore. overall, it is just a clean, damp, beautiful scent. almost like wet oranges in the evening, or a wet spring rain.

yum & yum & yum.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Dries down to: Initially, it stays much the same and almost has a gasoline-mixed-with-fertilizer feel to it, along with a bit of mint. Then, after about 1/2 hour, it morphs into an absolutely gorgeous scent. The gasoline-type smell disappears entirely and becomes almost amber-like with the appearance of the wine and floral undertones.

Additional Comments: This one caught me totally by surprise. I had initially rated it quite low but, since it was a frimp, it wasn't really a disappointment, just another scent to try. Then, it almost magically changed, very suddenly, into an earthy, rich, fresh scent - almost like dawn breaking after a night sleeping in the cemetary - that I couldn't get enough of. I'm really glad I didn't wash it off right away. I'll have to be in the mood to suffer through the initial stage, but the end result is well worth it.

Lasted: Overnight.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Surprisingly light and herbal, very fresh. The wine just sweetens the herbs without becoming overpowering as it did in Athens. More like a white wine scent than a red. Quite pleasant. Not getting earth and fungus or corpse at all off this. I may just keep it.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Very clean and fresh, and no red wine in sight. Smells herbal and...kind of the way the plants outside smell after it has rained. Amazing! And probably very good for summer, to counteract the ultra-stickiness of 110º.

ETA: ugh. over time, the red wine came out more and more and now it smells like a slightly soapy red wine. it turns my stomach every time i even open the imp. i'm swapping it away ASAP.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

This isn't half-bad, so long as I don't think about salamandria's "melons that are so overripe they're rotten" description. Nosferatu is most evocative --

It smells like it's just finished raining on an unpleasantly cold and misty day. I can picture sitting in a castle and drinking the weakest wine, both in the very depths of the basement and in the very highest tower. The thing is, everything I've just mentioned is presented as ghostly and unreal.

The vampire fantasies that this evokes are spectacularly clear. If I can't swap this one away, I'm going to keep it and wear it to sleep.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

It's bright limegreen when wet, herbs and citrus and florals and utter cleanliness with the threat of soapyness. I almost put it in the soapy scents ziplock baggy...Then it becomes lovely and ungraspable and shifting. I smell a crisp, bonedry white wine, green herbs and florals, limezest, orange sugar and burned matches. It smells feminine on me, the unflowery floral that does not go soapy. I must have strange chemistry to do that. This is evil, not dark at all...but a whiff of mystery and freshness with the undertone of utter wrongness. The person you meet at the park on a morning in May whom you never expect to be a vampire untill bitten.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Imp: Fruity, but with a dark edge. Some watermelon and wine and berries with a dark tinge underneath.

Wet: The wines definately come out here. The throw is VERY strong on this blend, which is great for me. Sweet fruit still on top. There is a little bit of dust and decay but not too much, it's very subtle.

Dry: It turned to powder, pure powder on me. How wine turned into powder is beyond me, although I do suspect one of the fruity scents to being the powdery substance or a resin is hiding in the blend.

Category: Wine/Dark fruit

Rating: 2.5/5; Beautiful at first but turns to powder

Overall: I absolutely loved this wet. It's the softer, more innocent version of Blood Rose that will get you noticed but won't make you smell like a head shop. I'm going to try this again because I want to make sure it really did turn to powder on me.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

As a matter of fact, I love all things vampiric, so the first time I tried this turned out to be a tragedy; the dirt was perfect, but wine was way too strong and nearly sour, and it soon overpowered the whole thing and turned it to powdery perfume.

So while pruning my imp box graveyard tonight, I give this one a casual little swipe, and Noseferatu rises from the dead! (okay, I'll quit with the cheesy vampire metaphors...sorry) But it just couldn't be more amazing now. I don't know if my imp has aged, or if my nose for perfume has improved, but this is so fresh and sweet, and yet very dark and earthy and a little sinister. Beth is a freakin' genius.